inTime Rhythm Based Music Therapy Helps Kids with Learning Disabilities

Author: Advanced Brain Technologies(i) : Contact: advancedbrain.com

Published: 2015-08-14 : (Rev. 2018-04-30)

Synopsis and Key Points:

Efficacy of inTime a novel intervention of rhythm-based music listening therapy to help children overcome learning disabilities.

Main Digest

Advanced Brain Technologies,creators of The Listening Program, a provider of evidence-based music programs and products for improving brain function, today announced publication of a ground breaking study that demonstrates the efficacy of the inTime method of neuro-acoustic training to help children overcome learning disabilities.

Music therapy is defined as the use of interventions to accomplish individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.

Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of a process in which a music therapist uses music and all of its facets, physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual, to help clients improve their physical and mental health.

Music therapy can be a particularly useful when working with children with autism due to the nonverbal, non-threatening nature of the medium.

A learning disability (LD), as defined under US federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), uses the term "specific learning disability (SLD)". According to IDEA, SLD is " a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation*, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage." (20 U.S.C. 1401 (30)) *Now known as intellectual disability.

A recent report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities "The State of Learning Disabilities Facts, Trends and Emerging Issues (Third Edition, 2014)" indicates that learning disabilities is the largest category of students receiving special education services, with 2.4 million American public school students (approximately 5% of the total public school enrollment) identified with learning disabilities under IDEA.

The inTime method provides neuro-acoustic training that combines two kinds of stimulation; stimulation with sounds of different frequencies and rhythmic stimulation. Besides listening to music using special audio equipment (Waves bone conduction audio system from Advanced Brain Technologies), training includes special rhythmic exercises using the body, the voice, and a drum, to optimize the functional state of the brain.

The study by Faina Ratner, Victoria Efimova, and Oleg Efimov examining the effects of inTime on children with learning disabilities was just published in International Education Studies an international, double-blind peer-reviewed, journal published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education. So far, the study has involved 36 male children with learning problems ages 7-10 attending public school, whose parents applied to the Prognoz Neurological Center, and the Logoprognoz Speech Therapy Center (St. Petersburg, Russia) because their children could not cope with the school program in two or more subjects, needed homework assistance, were easily distracted in class, tested with problems writing and reading, and were evaluated by a neurologist, speech therapist and psychologist.

18 of the children were included in the experimental group, and 18 in the control group. All children received functional neurological diagnostics using the Complex Auditory Subcortical Evoked Responses (CASER) technique before and after the program.

The sessions in the experimental and control groups lasted for 16 days, seven days a week.

Children in the experimental group attended 5 sessions daily, the duration of each session was 40 minutes. The program included sessions with a speech therapist, full body massage with emphasis on the collar area, neuro-dynamic gymnastics, exercises with a music therapist and an art therapist. All sessions were conducted individually: one child, one adult. Children in the control group attended the same sessions as the children in the experimental group, but without using the inTime method. Children in the experimental group followed a modified inTime protocol listening to 9-minute music modules 5 times a day. While listening to the music, the children were asked to choose any kind of activity: they might lie on sports mats, in a chair or in a hammock, on swings, play ball, paint, etc. The inTime equipment was put in a small backpack on the back, which allowed a child to move freely with no restrictions

After the neuro-dynamic program, children in both groups showed positive dynamics, both in learning activities and in the results of functional diagnostics. Analysis of Auditory Brain Stem Response (ABR) sixth peak latency during stimulation with a frequency of 4,000 Hz, and cerebellar examination by means of frequency following response (FFR) with stimulation at 40 Hz, both demonstrated statistically significant improvements after inTime treatment. Qualitative changes noted by parents and teachers were also evaluated on the basis of checklists with significant differences in the experimental group using inTime in sense of rhythm, attention, motor planning, handwriting and timing. This research is still in progress.

"inTime offers a safe, enjoyable and effective solution for children with learning disabilities", said Alex Doman, founder and CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies. " These findings verify the value of inTime for improving key brain functions related to learning; attention, rhythm, and timing. inTime, provides an exciting opportunity for neuro-acoustic training through the practice of rhythm-based music listening with an emphasis on beat synchronization."

Created and produced by occupational therapist Sheila Allen, composer and musician Nacho Arimany, and author, founder & CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies, Alex Doman, inTime is a compilation of original compositions, based on a blend of world music with diverse percussion, string, and wind instrumentation, which accents the power of rhythm and sound frequencies.

Each inTime listening system comes with a digital music player preloaded with the inTime music protocol, specialized headphones, guidebook, and a therapeutic drum and mallets developed in partnership between Advanced Brain Technologies and REMO, Inc.

inTime is available exclusively through Advanced Brain Technologies and an international network of trained providers; occupational therapists, audiologists, physicians, speech and language pathologists, psychologists, other clinicians and educators in schools, hospitals, clinics, and offering home-based intervention throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Bulgaria, Japan, and Russia.

Quick Facts:

On average, American adolescents listen to approximately 4.5 hours of music per day and are responsible for 70% of pop music sales.

The music therapy model is based on various theoretical backgrounds such as psycho-dynamic, behavioral, and humanistic approaches. Techniques can be classified as active vs. receptive and improvisational vs. structured.

Music therapy has shown effectiveness in treating symptoms of many disorders, including schizophrenia, amnesia, dementia and Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, mood disorders such as depression, aphasia and similar speech disorders, and Tourette's syndrome, among others.

Adolescents obtain many benefits from listening to music, including emotional, social, and daily life benefits, along with help in forming their identity. Music can provide a sense of independence and individuality, which in turn contributes to an adolescent's self-discovery and sense of identity.

Since up to 30 per cent of children with autism are nonverbal and many have difficulty understanding verbal commands music therapy becomes very useful as it has been found that music can improve the mapping of sounds to actions. So by pairing music with actions, and with many hours of training the neural pathways for speech can be improved. Child-appropriate action songs would be like playing the game peek-ka-boo or eeny meeny miney mo with a musical accompaniment, usually a piano or guitar.

Recent studies have examined the effect of music therapy on stroke patients when combined with traditional therapy.

Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia are among the disorders most commonly treated with music therapy.

Some symptoms of amnesia have been shown to be alleviated through various interactions with music, including playing and listening.

(i)Source/Reference: Advanced Brain Technologies. Disabled World makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith. Content may have been edited for style, clarity or length.

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